Liverpool’s 2025/26 could have been a lot different had FSG made different choices in the transfer market.
The Brentford game will decide whether the Reds even get Champions League football this season, which is crazy to think given they were champions this time last year.
Arne Slot’s failings as a manager have obviously had a major impact on the decline, but missing out on Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo has not helped either, as Sam Allardyce has now explained.
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Liverpool’s Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo transfer failures highlighted
Guehi moved to Manchester City for just £20m during the January transfer window after Liverpool had held an interest in the stopper since last summer.
Semenyo was also a target earlier this season, but ended up leaving Bournemouth for the Etihad when the Sky Blues activated his release clause, thought to be around £65m.
Now, speaking on his No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce has highlighted what a ‘big loss’ not signing Guehi was, suggesting City’s defensive struggles before his arrival were similar to what Liverpool are experiencing now.
He said: “What was a huge loss was not signing Guehi. That was a massive loss. You look at what Man City have done – everyone goes on about Semenyo.
“At the other end, Guehi has stopped City’s leaky defence. They were leaking goals like I’d never seen them before, like Liverpool now.”
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Man City may have missed out on the Premier League title, but there can be no denying that their form improved after Guehi and Semenyo signed.
They managed to win the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season, with Semenyo most recently scoring the winner in the final versus Chelsea.
Like Allardyce, Steven Gerrard thinks the Man City duo were a loss to Liverpool, recently suggesting both should be at Anfield right now.
He said: “They should be playing for Liverpool, so that hurts even more. We were linked with two of those players and that would have made a big difference to Liverpool.
“But I’ve said it before on record. Two top, top players. And for the price that they got them in as well. One on a free. One was, you know, £60 million. In today’s market, they’re two bargains. They’re two bargains.”
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